


To Man or Beast

by furo



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Bath Sex, Bathing/Washing, Biting, Dirty Talk, F/M, Hand Jobs, Hunter/Prey - Freeform, Kissing, Lucio doesn't talk as much for once, Making Out, Mild Language, Mild Predator/Prey, NSFW, Teasing, hope he's not too OOC, mild Dom/Sub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 12:11:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20600576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furo/pseuds/furo
Summary: The Count of Vesuvia is wise to delay his own gratification for once.





	To Man or Beast

**Author's Note:**

> hhiiIIIIII so first time posting ᵖᵒʳⁿ and honestly it's pretty mild, but i hope you like it!! 
> 
> i didn't feel as comfortable yet to write it with a neutral, unnamed MC so i did my own apprentice, Rune
> 
> hope lucio didn't turn out too out of character bc he doesn't run his mouth as much as we're used to lmao; enjoy & thanks for the read!
> 
> check me out on tumblr at @furosfiction; it would mean a lot!

There he lay, the man of the hour, the golden subject of furor and uproar across all of Vesuvia; serene, appeased, and near dozing off. Delicate fingers combed softly through his damp locks, as he lay with his head hanging off the bath—though it was more like a small pool—drooped onto his lover’s lap, almost lulled to sleep by the tender affections. 

The dense steam rising from the water and the orange beams of sunset filtering in through the curtains cast a glow on Lucio’s dewy skin that was ethereal—not unlike a ghost; _like a ghost_. His angular features were the most relaxed Rune had ever seen them, devoid of any stress or rage or façade. 

In a soundless motion, she leaned down, her face hovering over his, breath grazing his chin and mouth. He shifted, ever-so-slightly. She smiled, their lips brushing. Then, they kissed, the softest and most tender yet; unhurried. True. It was nothing like what she knew of Lucio, but in it there was no deceit. 

There was a vulnerable little nook to him. Perhaps more like a den—a lion’s den. From the outside looking in, through bars of gold, it was a fearsome sight; by all accounts a spectacle, meant to daunt and curdle the blood. Once inside, however, the lion could be coaxed—not tamed—could be looked in the eyes, and you could join him for a dance. He will lead you and, on the occasion that he wishes to be led, you will lead him. 

Their lips melded together until they slowed to a standstill, and they stayed there, breathing the same air. Rune broke away, and Lucio’s eyes opened for the first time since he had slipped into the bath. He stared up at her in a sort of reverence, heavy-lidded, his now-puffed lips curling into that smile that came so easy whenever they were alone. The backs of her fingers smoothed over his jaw, down his sculpted cheekbone, then left him with a little pinch to the tip of his nose. 

With ginger movements, she removed his head from her lap and went to rise. Lucio glided deeper into the bath, keeping his attention on her. His silver gaze took her in, narrowing a little bit at the edges like it did when he set his eyes in something he _must_ have. 

“Come join me,” he said, in the perfect blurred line between a request and a command. A lot of the things coming out of Lucio’s mouth sounded like that, especially when directed at the humble magician. Upon being given a quirk of the brow, he insisted, as though she needed convincing, “The water’s really nice.”

The magician feigned a thoughtful look. “Only if you wash my hair.”

Lucio gave her a brief roll of his eyes and nodded in concession.

She ambled up to the steps and began a leisure descent into the hot water. The temperature was just right; it rose goosebumps all across her skin, which had become dewy in the steam of the room, in that revitalizing kind of way, her pores exuding any and every ounce of residue, and bidding it good riddance. 

“Shed that, Rune,” Lucio said, demand now more candid in the lilt of his voice. He emerged his hands from under the water in anticipation of her approach. 

“You know, you don’t always have to boss me around,” said Rune, despite her mild manners. 

He hummed, in almost a purr, “But you always seem to do as I say.”

She remained in the steps, the water lapping at her thighs, as she skimmed her hands over the ripples on the surface. The coy smile she was giving him was gnawing at Lucio’s impatience. 

“Take that off,” he pressed, though his tone wasn’t forceful, but seductive in nature. 

“Whatever you say, my Lord,” said Rune lightheartedly. She slipped the hems of her sheer bathrobe, letting it fall and pool at her elbows, baring her torso to him. He wanted to look at everything all at once, not knowing where to start, but he could never help his eyes drawing towards the glint of gold on her left breast, peeking at either side of her rosy nipple. 

Rune went down the rest of the way, where Lucio gathered her into his waiting arms, his hands circling her waist, peeling off her robe entirely. His breath grew heavy at the delight of her naked body, smooth and soft and wet, pressed flush against his own. 

It was unlike Lucio to hold back the way he was now, letting his hands enjoy every plane and curve of her, caressing and squeezing and kneading, her skin pliant and sensitive to his every touch. Rune’s breaths were long and deep, sighed against his ear as he suckled and nipped at her neck. 

“I would think twice before calling me that. . .” he uttered in her ear, his breath tickling a spot that had her shuddering in his embrace. The fingers on his aureate arm trailed lightly down her back, and he had to tighten his hold on her, lest she buckle all the way down. “. . . or I might get used to it.”

Collecting herself, Rune braced against his lean chest and shoulder, and knew he would preen at that, as he always did whenever she touched him there—where his endeavors rewarded him, swelling with strength and brawn. She brought her mouth to his, and he wasted no time before sealing their lips, sensually slow and heated. Lucio stroked his tongue all over her mouth, coaxing out hers and overpowering it with ease. They tangoed and waltzed and he blazed the trail every second.

Rune gave and gave and let him, and not without relish. 

The Count cooed her name against her skin, her neck and collarbone; in a flurry of desperate movements, Lucio’s hands were all over, playing with her soft, modest breasts with one hand and (mindful enough) massaging her ass with his other, clawed one. 

He shifted her so she lay across the steps, and kissed her with more force now, _fire_ singing under his skin, the steaming water doing nothing to appease the flames, not to mention the heart-stopping sight of his lover writhing and panting beneath him, on the wake of his tongue and fingertips. His eyes opened of their own accord as they kissed, to drink in the wondrous display of her, half-convinced that she might be a vision, a trickery of the fog, figment of the steam that made him woozy with lust. 

“You’re not always gonna get what you want, you know,” Lucio heard, in a voice that didn’t sound unkind like the idea. 

He realized he was now holding Rune’s thighs apart, and she was tilting her head, giving him a roguish smirk. Her eyes grounded him; they were the picture of serenity in the light of the setting sun. They warmed him, if a color was ever capable of such. 

“No preaching in my hours of relaxation, Rune,” Lucio said, a smile shaping his voice. 

“You didn’t seem particularly relaxed just now, if you ask me,” she said. He paused.

“I’m _bathing_.”

“Right. . .” Rune’s palm slid down the Count’s lean abdomen, fingers seeping through every dip and valley; she even raked her fingernails lightly on her way down to make him shiver. 

His jaw went slack with anticipation, his arousal throbbing for her, pleading for attention as her hand caressed the jut of his hips, the planes of his pelvis, before creeping down, _down_ where he yearned for her. She caught his gasp with her lips the moment her hand finally grasped his cock, stroking in slow, shallow movements. It was slender and long, heavy and warmer than the water somehow, which Rune could sense was enchanted to remain steaming hot at all times. 

Lucio slanted onto her, closing any breadth of space that was between them, his tongue restless in his mouth, so he slid it down Rune’s neck, tipping her head back, and left little pink imprints on the wake of his teasing teeth. Light nips grew into rough, sloppy sucking as her hand tightened her grip on him, his tongue pressing into the sensitive spots he spawned on her skin, and he all but swelled at the gasps and mewls he lured out of her—drew them from her like an instrument, though he didn’t know jack about music, and he played by ear, but managed a tune that always worked. 

The moment he enjoyed something a little too much, he locked on, he pounced; took, took, and took. It called for someone with enough patience and humility to indulge in the Count’s whims, without tiring or growing to inevitably despise his guts and the mere sight of him. Who else, then, but the magician? Who was willing to look past the charades and understood that, once Lucio was obliged, one would find that he didn’t really need _much_. 

In the hazy midst of wanton moans and growls, Rune noted Lucio had been rather quiet for one of his character, so she pulled away for a moment to look him in the eyes, slowing the hand that was rubbing him. His cheeks, in contrast to his ivory skin, were flaming red, as well as the tips of his ears. 

“I need you,” he declared, before the silence stretched too long, in nothing short of a whine. The silver ponds of his eyes were nearly all swallowed by black, his tongue swiping at the row of his pearly teeth. Sometimes, Lucio was the very picture of debauchery. Right then, he teetered at the edge. 

“I miss being inside you,” he whispered into Rune’s ear, his breaths deepening as she elongated the slow stroking of his cock.

A fond smile curled the corners of her lips. “I don’t think it’s been even a wee—”

“_Too long_,” he all but hissed, carnal, baring his teeth; a snarl of sorts rumbled within his throat, his breath feverish against her skin, desperate, bordering the end of restraint, like a goddamned animal in heat. His fingers were digging into her side, just about to wound. 

In one deliberately lethargic act, Rune slithered out of Lucio’s arms, clambered backwards up the steps, and rose entirely out of the bath. He stared, in a daze heady with palpable lust, then watched as she quickly threw on her bathrobe and snuck out the room, eyes glinting with mischief over her shoulder before she was gone. 

The Count’s lips stretched into a something feral, his expression deviating, marauding, voracious. He climbed out of the bathing pool, rivulets of water trickling down the sculpture of his body, a mist surging from his flushed skin that could well not have been born from the heat of the bath alone. 

He flexed his muscles, shifting, bulging, spreading under lines of sinew he had so proudly built, and watched the regal display of it on the reflection of the mirror by the wall. 

After a deep, energizing breath, Lucio looked back to the door. He licked his lips. A hot coil tingled in his stomach in anticipation; his mind eased into the role of hunter, of predator, _his favorite_. It dove to his groin. 

He stalked over to the door, in all his glorious nudity, ready to set out the halls of the palace. His blood hummed a song of exhilaration.

The trace of Rune lingered in the air, just waiting to be tracked. 

To be hunted. To be claimed. 

The thrill of the chase was a luxury made for him.

**Author's Note:**

> how was it?????????? i crave validation
> 
> sorry this wasn't so filthy and that it was left open ended haha but i hope i made up for it with the closeups of this nasty man's naked glory 
> 
> i sWEAR i don't like him THAT much even tho i realize it reads like i'm gushing about him???? he can just be a really interesting character
> 
> i'm eager to hear your feedback!! tell me what you think! thanks for your time! 
> 
> check me out at @furosfiction on tumblr too!
> 
> edit: i have a ko-fi now, if you'd like to support me there!


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